Taiwan’s Aim-Inhibited Quest for Identity and the China Factor

The realization of a positive and well-integrated national identity is difficult even under the most favorable circumstances. Korea, Chechen, and the Palestinians are notorious recent examples of national identities destined, due to a combination of circumstances, to remain frustrated to some extent. Taiwan has, since relinquishing its claim to be sole inter-national representative of ‘China ’ as hopelessly unrealistic in the early 1990s, faced formidable practical problems in its quest for national identity. This article attempts to comprehend Taiwan’s aim-inhibited quest for ethnic and national identity in the context of Taiwan’s complex and delicate international environment and the cross-Strait dilemma in particular